Education Commons^™

From Becoming To Being: How Stem Teachers Develop Leadership Identities, Kelsey Quaisley, Wendy M. Smith, Brett A. Criswell, Rachel Funk, Anna Hutchinson

Secondary Education Faculty Publications

The development of STEM teacher leadership identity empowers K-12 teachers to make changes to improve teaching and learning. Identity development might not be productively supported in all school settings, however. Hence, external professional development programs should offer opportunities to supplement this identity development. We construct and propose a Can't-to-Becoming-to-Being model to describe STEM teacher leadership identity development as a progression of stages from weak to strong identity. Using interview data over two points in time with 127 STEM teacher leaders, we illustrate four stages of development: Can't, Can, Should, and Being. We also elucidate the conditions that teachers identify as …

Equity In Engineering Education: The Experiences Of Non-Traditional Students In Introductory Engineering Courses With Peer Learning Support, Kimberly T. Luthi, Mohua Kar

Publications

This paper seeks to examine one aspect of the pilot research study entitled, “Engagement in Engineering Pathways: An Initiative to Retain Non-Traditional Students in Engineering” funded by the National Science Foundation Improving Undergraduate STEM Education grant program (Award No. 1712008). This three-year study examines the effect of the use of Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL) on students’ academic performance, STEM experiences, and persistence in engineering programs [2]. The data collected is from May 2018- May 2020. The present study population is undergraduate engineering students at a multi-campus, federally designated Hispanic-serving, public, two-year college in the southeastern U.S. This paper will specifically …

Career Advancement Of Women In Engineering Disciplines At Two-Year Degree Institutions: Documenting Challenges And Potential Solutions To Raise Inclusivity, Kimberly Luthi

Publications

Institutions of higher education that offer two-year degrees have student-centered missions with support structures to address the unique needs of a diverse student body [14]. Many two-year degree institution types are open access and have institutional priorities focused on increasing diversity and inclusive practices among both the students and faculty [1]. Although the inclusion of women traditionally underrepresented in STEM disciplines in higher education settings is a national concern, the advancement of women at institutions that offer support networks and institutional practices such as two-year degree institutions contribute to women’s advancement and diversity in the talent pipeline. This research study …

Professional Development For Early Career Dber Scholars Through In-Person And Virtual Career Panel Workshops, Miranda M. Chen Musgrove, Elizabeth Genné-Bacon, Kelsey Gray, Ashley B. Heim, Anupriya Karippadath, Rita Margarida Magalhães, Brie Tripp, Anna J. Zelaya

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

In discipline-based education research (DBER), early career scholars, such as graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, observe a slew of possible career pathways. Yet, there is a lack of opportunities to learn about such pathways, particularly when transitioning from traditional science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM) disciplinary training into a DBER position. Thus, the DBER Scholars-in-Training Professional Development subcommittee was created within the Society for the Advancement of Biology Education Research (SABER) community to develop a collection of workshops that would serve the greatest professional development needs of early career scholars entering DBER. Through a series of surveys disseminated over multiple …

Conflict Of Allegiance: Professional Development Challenges In Transforming Science Teachers' Identities And Practices, Elizabeth B. Lewis

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

Case studies of two biology teachers, Cathy and David, from the same minority-majority, urban U.S. high school, provide insights into their instructional practices while they engaged in long-term professional development (PD). Findings suggest why science teachers engaged with PD may, or may not, adopt more adaptive pedagogical approaches in the service of reform-based teaching. Gee’s institution- and affinity-identity constructs were used as analytic lenses regarding teachers’ perceptions of teaching, learning, and agency in the dual contexts of their school’s institutional environment and PD community. Over time, Cathy adopted more inquiry-based instructional practices she learned through PD seminars in building a …

Exploring Algebraic Thinking: In-Service Teacher Experiences, Outcomes, And Perceptions From An Algebra For All Capstone Unit Plan Project, Alexander J. Lord, Tallin Lamonaca

Publications and Research

Taking algebra is often noted as a key component for student preparation for college and career success. However, this course often serves as a barrier for secondary students to overcome due to their lack of preparation for such abstract contexts and due to a lack of meaningful professional experiences available to assist teachers develop those concepts. Initiatives such as Algebra for All were started to help educators at all grade levels develop methods to expose their students to algebraic thinking. In New York City, a five-course Algebra for All sequence was created for in-service public school educators at a local …

Addressing Student Engagement During Covid-19: Secondary Stem Teachers Attend To The Affective Dimension Of Learner Needs, Tiffany Roman, Laurie Brantley-Dias, Michael Dias, Belinda Edwards

Faculty and Research Publications

This case study examines how a cohort of eleven induction secondary STEM teachers engaged learners during the onset of COVID-19 and their designs for student engagement given an online or blended teaching context in fall 2020. Participants attended a summer professional development workshop guided by trauma-informed teaching practices and learner engagement conceptual frameworks. Through the analysis of teacher artifacts and interviews, we identified dimensions of student engagement that teachers prioritized. Results indicate a marked increase in teachers’ attention to affective and social dimensions of learner engagement. We argue that teacher awareness and action in the affective domain of student engagement …

Science In The Elementary Classroom, Melissa Birkey

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

The elementary school day is filled with many different aspects of learning. Math and reading have been the emphasis of teaching over the last decade. Science is a part of students learning that needs to find its way into the elementary school day. This literature review compares different curriculum that is used to teach science in the elementary classroom as well as discusses an effective use of time to implement science into the daily schedule. When considering when and how to teach science, some teachers incorporate into other curricular areas as others find its own time during the day. Multiple …

Timss 2019 Australia. Volume Ii: School And Classroom Contexts For Learning, Sue Thomson, Nicole Wernert, Sarah Buckley, Sima Rodrigues, Elizabeth O'Grady, Marina Schmid

TIMSS 2019

This is the second of two reports that look at the results of TIMSS 2019 and Australia’s performance. Volume I focuses specifically on the achievement results, detailing Australia’s results within the international context, and presents results for the Australian jurisdictions, and for the different demographic groups within Australia, including male and female students. This report, Volume II, presents the results from the contextual questionnaires, and examines the contexts in which learning and achievement occur, including home, school, and classroom contexts, as well as student attitudes. Each chapter focuses on different indicators that cover the school community, the school learning environment, …

Teacher Resources On Numeracy, Anannya Chakraborty

Teacher India

Teachers have to persistently orient mathematics teaching towards building a strong foundation and improving achievements of students. This article provides a list of short topical online readings on teaching and learning mathematics published by ACER.

Mathematics Anxiety: Supplementary Materials, Sarah Buckley

Student learning processes

This publication contains two professional development activities for teachers which focus on mathematics anxiety. One is a team-based activity and the other is an activity for individuals. The activities encourage both mathematics teachers and non-mathematics teachers to reflect on their current practice, their attitudes towards mathematics, their ideas about teaching mathematics and the mathematical beliefs of students.

Critical Connections Between Numeracy And Mathematics: Supplementary Materials, Dave Tout

Student learning processes

This publication contains three professional development activities targeted at teachers of mathematics. The activities for both groups and individuals focus on the challenge of word problems in maths and connecting maths to the real world. Also included are references, materials and resources related to the issue of the connections between numeracy and mathematics.

Developing An Understanding Procedures Observation Rubric For Mathematics Intervention Teachers, Angela R. Crawford, Evelyn S. Johnson, Yuzhu Z. Zheng, Laura A. Moylan

Early and Special Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study describes the initial psychometric evaluation of an Understanding Procedures observation rubric. The instrument is intended to provide feedback to teachers working in mathematics intervention settings. The rubric translates the research base from mathematics education and special education into practice in the form of specific items and descriptors of performance levels. A sample of 16 intervention teachers across three states provided three videos each of their instruction of students in mathematics intervention classes. Ten external raters evaluated the videos. We analyze the ratings using many-facet Rasch measurement. Analyses of the teacher, item, rater, and lesson facets show good psychometric …

Critical Factors For Effective And Equitable Ngss Science Teaching Practices, Elizabeth B. Lewis, Lyrica L. Lucas, Amy Tankersley, Elizabeth Hasseler, Brandon Helding

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Posters and Presentations

With the widespread adoption and adaption of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and its implicit focus on inquiry-based instruction, reformed science teaching practices are critically important to meeting the U.S. vision of scientific literacy for all students. Thus, the role of teacher learning through both teacher preparation and professional development must be well understood and informed through empirical findings. Accordingly, the theme of this NARST conference paper set is to identify effective science teaching practices using the lens of the NGSS science and engineering practices (SEPs), science subject matter knowledge, and equitable teaching practices. We found that inquiry-based instruction …

Developing A Critical Discourse About Teaching And Learning: The Case Of A Secondary Science Video Club, Tara Barnhart, Elizabeth Van Es

Education Faculty Articles and Research

Video is used widely to support teachers’ learning and enactment of responsive instruction. Informed by principles of video club design, we designed a video club to support secondary science teachers developing a vision of responsive teaching, attention to student thinking, and a critical discourse to analyze their own and others’ efforts to enact responsive practices. In this study, we investigate if and how teachers developed a critical discourse in this context. Analysis reveals that the group developed a more collaborative, interpretive, and evidence-based discourse about teaching and learning. These findings contribute to research on video clubs as a professional development …

Using Site Visits To Strengthen Collaboration, Victor Piercey, Rebecca Segal, Afroditi Vennie Filippas, Tao Chen, Soloman Kone, Rosalyn Hobson Hargraves, Jack Bookman, John Hearn, Debbie Pike, Kathy S. Williams

Publications and Research

The SUMMIT-P project is a multi-institutional endeavor to leverage interdisciplinary collaboration in order to improve the teaching of undergraduate mathematics courses in the first two years of college. One goal of this work is to establish collaborative communities among the institutions involved. As part of the project, institutions visit one another on site visits that are structured according to a common protocol. The site visits have been valuable to the project. Participating institutions report the exchange of actionable ideas and feedback; members of the grant leadership team have used the site visits to direct the overall project, and evaluators have …

Teacher Learning And Continuous Professional Development., Fiona Faulkner, John Kenny, Coral Campbell, Cosette Crisan

Books/Book Chapters

This chapter discusses teacher learning and professional development of out-of-field teachers from the point of view of the literature. It examines what makes this kind of learning and development effective and explores the ideas surrounding the varying rationale for the introduction of such teacher learning and professional development opportunities. Classical approaches to professional development are discussed in addition to several emerging international models of professional development that are currently being employed in the Republic of Ireland, England and Australia for in-service out-of-field teachers of mathematics predominantly but also a range of other subject disciplines (in the case of South Korea). …

Board 57: Identifying And Disseminating Transformative Professional Development Of Stem Undergraduates Who Perform Outreach: Progress In Year 1, Michael Alley, Joanna K. Garner

Center for Educational Partnerships Publications

To teach STEM content to K-12 students and to recruit talented and diverse K-12 students into STEM, many outreach programs at universities in the United States rely on STEM undergraduates. While the design of such outreach typically focuses on the K-12 students who are taught or recruited, an important but often overlooked consideration is the effect of the outreach on the professional development of the STEM undergraduates themselves. This proposed EAGER project seeks to determine which outreach programs in the United States provided the most transformative professional development of the participating STEM undergraduates. This project then seeks to capture the …

Board 57: Identifying And Disseminating Transformative Professional Development Of Stem Undergraduates Who Perform Outreach: Progress In Year 1, Michael Alley, Joanna K. Garner

Office of Research Faculty & Staff Publications

To teach STEM content to K-12 students and to recruit talented and diverse K-12 students into STEM, many outreach programs at universities in the United States rely on STEM undergraduates. While the design of such outreach typically focuses on the K-12 students who are taught or recruited, an important but often overlooked consideration is the effect of the outreach on the professional development of the STEM undergraduates themselves. This proposed EAGER project seeks to determine which outreach programs in the United States provided the most transformative professional development of the participating STEM undergraduates. This project then seeks to capture the …

Educational Attainment, Teaching Experience, Professional Development And Self-Efficacy As Predictors Of Chemistry Content Knowledge: Implication For The Development Of A National Promotion Examination, Jina Denise R. Galiza, Rhodora F. Nicdao, Armando M. Guidote Jr

Chemistry Faculty Publications

This study examined teachers’ content knowledge (CK) in chemistry and its relationship to teachers’ chemistry background, teaching experience, involvement in professional development and self-efficacy It was further investigated which variables predicted the level of content knowledge (CK) of one hundred public secondary chemistry teachers. The data shows that the majority of science teachers have low level of CK in Chemistry. Teaching experience, professional development, chemistry background, and self-efficacy were significantly related to the CK of teachers. Teachers' professional development and self-efficacy predicted the CK of teachers.

Developing A Faculty Learning Community To Support Writing Across Different Stem Disciplines, Vukica M. Jovanovic, Denise Tombolato-Terzic, Daniel P. Richards, Pilar Pazos, Megan Mckittrick, Julia Romberger, Otilia Popescu

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

Writing to learn is one of the very important pedagogical strategies in a variety of disciplines. This concept is not specifically addressed in the majority of engineering courses. Hence, university initiatives such as the Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP), emerging out of accreditation and institutional assessments, are focusing on infusing scholarship from other disciplines (in this case English) for the purpose of student learning improvement. Engineering and Science programs do include various courses in English Composition as the part of the curriculum; however, writing is not embedded in all discipline-specific courses at the upper-division level. The program outlined here focuses on …

Situating Computer Simulation Professional Development: Does It Promote Inquiry-Based Simulation Use?, Amanda L. Gonczi, Jennifer L. Maeng, Randy L. Bell, Brooke A. Whitworth

Publications

This mixed-methods study sought to identify professional development implementation variables that may influence participant (a) adoption of simulations, and (b) use for inquiry-based science instruction. Two groups (Cohort 1, N = 52; Cohort 2, N = 104) received different professional development. Cohort 1 was focused on Web site use mechanics. Cohort 2 was situated in nature and provided three additional elements: (a) modeling simulation use within inquiry-based instruction; (b) collaboration; and (c) provision of content-relevant lesson planning time. There was no difference in the extent of simulation use between cohorts, χ2(1) = 0.878, p = .349, φ = −0.075. Results …

Impact Of Collaborative Teaching On K-12 Mathematics And Science Learning, Tonya D. Jeffery, Cherie A. Mccollough, Kim Moore

Faculty Publications

A national effort is underway to transform teacher education program practices and produce effective and highly qualified teachers for 21st century classrooms. This effort prescribes providing preservice teachers (PSTs) with authentic field-based experiences that connects what is taught in teacher preparation programs with what they do in the K-12 classroom. Bridging the gap between theory and practice requires that teacher education programs collaborate with schools districts, redesigning teacher training to better serve prospective teachers and their students (NCATE, 2010). This paper describes a mixed-methods study examining the impact of a STEM site-based professional development program (TEX) on the math and …

I Want To Be The Inquiry Guy! How Research Experiences For Teachers Change Beliefs, Attitudes, And Values About Teaching Science As Inquiry, Deborah Herrington, Senetta F. Bancroft, Molly M. Edwards, Caroline J. Schairer

Peer Reviewed Articles

This qualitative study examined how and why a research experiences for teachers (RET) influenced middle and high school science teachers’ beliefs, attitudes, and values about teaching science as inquiry. Changes teachers reported after participating in the RET ranged from modifying a few lessons (belief change) to a comprehensive revision of what and how they taught to better reflect inquiry (attitude change). Some teachers who described comprehensively changing their instruction also described implementing actions meant to change science education within their respective schools, not just their own classrooms (value change). We present how and why teachers went about changes in their …

Imsa© Fusion: Preparing Students For Future Scientific Expertise, Michelle Kolar, Dora Phillips, Elizabeth Martinez, Laurie S. Sutherland

Publications & Research

Illinois adopted the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) on February 19, 2014 with implementation scheduled to begin in the 2016-17 school year. This article explores (1) the national and statewide need for STEM college and career readiness based on current data; (2) the research on best practices in STEM teaching and learning; and (3) the work of the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy (IMSA) to create IMSA Fusion, a science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) educational program that is aligned with NGSS and utilizes research-based best practices to serve Illinois educators and students.

The introduction of the Next Generation Science …

Improving Teaching Through Collaborative Reflective Teaching Cycles, Eileen Murray

Department of Mathematics Facuty Scholarship and Creative Works

Reflection and collaboration are two activities teachers can use to change and improve their practice. However, finding the time and space to do so can be challenging. The collaborative reflective teaching cycle is a structured activity teachers can use to engage in reflection and collaboration. This article describes how a seventh grade teaching team implemented a series of cycles and in what ways the cycles impacted their practice. Implications for instruction and suggestions for use of the cycles in practice are discussed.

Documenting Current Instructional Design Practices: Towards A Typology Of Instructional Designer Activities, Roles, And Collaboration, William Sugar, Robert L. Moore

STEMPS Faculty Publications

The overall goal of this study was to conduct a yearlong inquiry into an instructional designer’s activities and interactions with his clients. Exclusive focus of this study was on an instructional designer who worked at a large public university in the southeastern region of the United States. Documented in an instructional design activities log, this study analyzed 115 distinct activities. Using an emergent theme analysis approach, specific instructional design activities and roles emerged. In addition, the instructional designer’s collaboration with his clients was analyzed. Results of this study augment the knowledge base of existing studies of instructional design practices.

Connecting With The Caribbean, Sueanne Mckinney, Linda Irwin-Devitis, Brenda Scanelli, Sharon Thomas, Andrew Casiello, Heather Huling

Distance Learning Faculty & Staff Publications

Teaching and learning mathematics can be a universal language. Our session will focus on the collaborative efforts of Old Dominion University and the Caribbean schools on the islands of St. Kitts, Dominica, Nevis and Anguilla in order to provide professional development learning opportunities in the area of mathematics. Specifically, the learning opportunity sessions concentrate on the use of manipulatives to teach conceptual understandings of mathematical ideals for the participating Caribbean schools and teachers. Preliminary data will be presented and discussed that includes the technical process, teacher understanding and participation, and mathematics self-efficacy.

Secondary Mathematics Teachers’ Literacy Professional Learning: An Amalgamation Of Adolescent Literacy, Mathematics Teaching, And Adult Learning, Janet L. Larson

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This study uses practitioner research to examine secondary mathematics teachers’ learning of literacy integration practices in the context of a district-wide literacy professional development series. The author, a secondary mathematics curriculum and instruction facilitator in a large, Midwestern suburban district, engaged in a two-year partnership with seventeen Mathematics Teacher Facilitators (MTFs) who taught literacy practices to their colleagues via a train-the-trainer model. This study provides an explicit rendering of professional development practices and ongoing, job-embedded learning vignettes of six MTF’s experiences in (a) teaching literacy practices to their colleagues and (b) how they learned and enacted these practices in their …

A Primer For Mathematical Modeling, Marla A. Sole

Publications and Research

With the implementation of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics recommendations and the adoption of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics, modeling has moved to the forefront of K-12 education. Modeling activities not only reinforce purposeful problem-solving skills, they also connect the mathematics students learn in school with the mathematics they will use outside of school. Instructors have found mathematical modeling difficult to teach. To successfully incorporate modeling activities I believe that curricular changes should be accompanied by professional development for curriculum developers, classroom teachers, and higher education professionals. This article serves as an introduction to modeling by …